Meet Tatiana Santana Boudreaux | Realtor, Vacation rental property manager, Investor, Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tatiana Santana Boudreaux and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tatiana, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Caracas Venezuela and educated to be a citizen of the world. My parents passed on to me their love of language and I have been studying languages since the age of 7. We traveled all over Venezuela camping and visiting the natural beauties the country has to offer so I grew up with great appreciation for nature and the outdoors.
In college I studied Tourism Management in Venezuela, with the dream of bringing anglers from all over the world to experience the amazing fishing from deep in the Amazon and the Orinoco belt to the Caribbean. But the country’s socio-political situation didn’t allow that dream to come true and I decided to leave the country.
What I love from being in real estate, property management and short-term rental management, is that I get to interact with national and international tourists through the short-term rentals and international investors. When I get a chance to practice my languages with a guest, it is an extra highlight for my day.
I am perfectionist and detailed oriented which makes me a perfect fit for the real estate and short-term property management businesses since I try to stay on top and pay attention to all the little details involved in each person’s investment.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My business story. I came to this country on vacation.
As of today: Andre, my husband and business partner and I have built a thriving real estate business and successful property management portfolio which includes short-term and long-term rentals, for national and international absentee owners and our own properties. We also have invested in hard money loans, hotels in South America, a growing popsicle company and new construction in Central Florida.
Before I came to United States, I had recently graduated in Tourism Management, and I was the International Operations Manager at an FBO (Fixed Base Operator) providing ground services to private airplanes in the Maiquetia airport (serving the capital city of Caracas). the socio-political situation in Venezuela was deteriorating rapidly. I had been to so many protests against the Chavez regime and inhaled more than my fair share of tear gas, all for nothing. The Chavez regime kept digging their claws dipper and dipper.
It was apparent that the country was not conducive to the growth and quality of life I was brought up for. And so, I quit my job and started to look for master programs in Europe where I could improve my languages. I was accepted for an MBA program in Vienna, but it gave me bad energy, so I decided to take a break and bought a 2-months ticket to visit my brother who was living in Miami. That December the whole family came to Miami and Disney for the Christmas holidays. I was sure that after those 2-months vacation, I would figure out what to do with my life.
I was staying with my brother in Miami, and he told me one day. “Since you are here doing nothing, why don’t you look for a job?”… and so I did. Since I had experience with FBO’s I searched for this type of company and found Jetscape at FLL. It was my first interview where I met John Evans and the Jetscape team. I would tell them that I was looking for someone to sponsor me so I could work here legally.
I always say that the stars were aligned for me during that period. The energy was flowing, and I put my “Causalidad” in motion.
Faster than I expected, Jetscape Services agreed to my sponsorship, and we started with my paperwork. Not long after, at that same company, I met my husband, Andre, who worked for the sister company Jetscape Leasing (they sell, lease, and manage commercial size aircraft), owned by the same person. John Evans, would later become the best man at our wedding.
It is quite a long story, but I love to tell it because I am such a believer in energy. That is how I got to stay in this country and not go to Europe.

While I was working at Jetscape, my friend Toyis (Nayade Bravo) started a property management business for short term rental properties. One of the properties she was managing was close to my area in Fort Lauderdale, while Toyis was based in Miami, so she asked me if I wanted to help her with the management of that particular property and my response to any opportunity has always been “whatever adds up and doesn’t subtract is welcome”. So that is how I was introduced to short-term rental property management business.
Toyis ended up selling her business and asked me if I wanted to keep managing this particular property for a French owner who is a delight of a person so of course “whatever adds up and doesn’t subtract is welcome”. This owner bought another house and people who stayed at his houses bought other houses and little by little my business kept growing by word of mouth.
In the meantime, my career was also growing at Jetscape, I was the Finance Manager by the end of my tenure, I got my real estate license so I could convert some of those international investors into real estate clients and I had 2 young babies. Emma and Robert.
It got to a point that it was too hard to manage the babies, the house, the full-time job, and the growing business so I resigned from Jetscape.
This new schedule gave me the flexibility to be very involved in my kid’s education. I volunteered at their schools as much as possible, went to all their field trips, was the room mom a few times, helped the PTA, etc. The best time of my life.
Last summer my husband survived a terrible car accident where over 50% of his body was burnt (mostly his extremities), he spent 5 months in the hospital and underwent multiple surgeries. It has been a life-changing event which has given us all the opportunity to grow stronger and closer as a family. He is on a long and slow road to recovery, and we are grateful for all the support from family and friends and are so appreciative for every little improvement to his health and quality of life.

Now we are a real estate team. (He had taken his real estate license during the pandemic). They now call us “Beauty and the Phoenix”.
With Andre’s extensive marketing experience from being VP of Marketing in the aircraft leasing business plus my attention to detail and experience with the real estate and vacation rental management, we have a solid team to grow our portfolio into the next level.

I am also a great believer in energy. The first book I read about it and changed my perspective was “La Novena Revelacion” “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield. I read it in Spanish and the translation works better than in English. There are no coincidences, there are “Causalidades” which in summary translates to you cause what you want by putting your energy towards it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We are a homebody kind of family and love to entertain at home. Putting my husband’s health aside for a moment I would bring them home and prepare a nice traditional Venezuela BBQ with Guasacaca made by my father (my parents live a block away from us and we eat together very often), sausages, morcillas, yucca, etc. Here is a rough outline of my proposed itinerary. Of course, it depends if there are kids and how old they are, how much they like the nightlife or not, etc.
Day 1: We would take them to Hollywood beach where 2 of Andre’s sisters live and spend some time at the beach with family there as well. Show them the boardwalk. If money is not an obstacle, we would rent some jet skis there. We could eat dinner on the boardwalk and enjoy some live music at the Hollywood Bandshell
https://fortlauderdaleonthecheap.com/iconic-open-air-theater-on-hollywood-beach-reopens-for-free-music-performances/
Day 2: City Tour Miami PLUS (City Tour + Boat Tour) 6 hours $55 per adult
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g34438-d15693774-City_Tour_Miami_PLUS_City_Tour_Boat_Tour-Miami_Florida.html
Day 3: Relax in Pompano Beach, enjoy the pier and the restaurant around it.
Day 4: Sun, Snorkel & Sip : Key West Day Trip from Miami. $165 per adult
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g34439-d21061584-Sun_Snorkel_Sip_Key_West_Day_Trip_from_Miami-Miami_Beach_Florida.html
Day 5: Shopping at Sawgrass Mills Mall.
Day 6: Everglades Air Boat Ride + Alligator Show. $95 per adults
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g34439-d19494952-Everglades_Air_Boat_Ride_Alligator_Show-Miami_Beach_Florida.html
Day 7: Take it easy and take a slow walk at FERN FOREST NATURE CENTER.
Eat at Casa Frida a family owned and manage Mexican restaurant with authentic Mexican cuisine where you get to be greeted by the owner, Victor Bocos, every time. https://casafridamexicancuisine.com/

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My parents. Hard working, loving and sweet but strict and dedicated to us. My dad is a well-respected doctor (gastroenterologist) and my mom a nurse. Both retired now.
They gave my brother and me a well-rounded education at “Colegio Emil Friedman”, a prestigious private school in Caracas. My mom insisted in me going to English classes after school and every time I protested, she would insist and tell me how important it was for me. She sparked my love for languages. Now I can communicate in Spanish, English, French and Italian and I am studying Mandarin.
My parents made a great financial effort for us to go to Emil Friedman, where the motto is “there is no education without musical education”. So, I was given the opportunity to pick a classical instrument at age 8 and the Cello chose me. As my ability grew, through hard work and dedication, I became a member of larger and larger ensemble, and I was fortunate to belong to the “Arcos y Voces Juveniles de Caracas”. In order to belong to this orchestra, we had to practice every day during lunch break and once a week we had general rehearsal with the entire orchestra. This unique experience required for us to be extremely organized and masters of time management.
My parents also made it mandatory that I practice a sport. So, I enjoyed ballet, then gymnastics and then tennis. Now I have a swift backhand If I do say so myself.
We traveled as a family every chance we got. We went to places throughout the country where not many Venezuelans can say they have been. It gave me a great sense of pride in my country of birth. One of my fondest memories is being carried in my father’s shoulders up this mountain we had to hike in order to get to a beach on the other side to spend the day and then hike back to go home.

Website: https://happystayfl.com/

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